Tuesday, December 4, 2012

"Engineers working for the Assad regime in Syria have begun
combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas, an American
official with knowledge of the situation tells Danger Room. International
observers are now more worried than they’ve even been that the Damascus
government could use its nerve agent stockpile to slaughter its own people.

The U.S. doesn’t
know why the Syrian military made the move, which began in the middle of last
week and is taking place in central Syria. Nor are they sure why the Assad
government is transferring some weapons to different locations within the
country, as the New York Times reported on Monday.

All that’s certain is that the arms have now been prepped to be
used, should Assad order it.

“Physically, they’ve gotten to the point where the can load it
up on a plane and drop it,” the official adds.

Sarin gas has two
main chemical components — isopropanol, popularly known as rubbing alcohol, and methylphosphonyl difluoride. The Assad government has more
than 500 metric tons of these precursors, which it ordinarily stores separately,
in so-called “binary” form, in order to prevent an accidental release of nerve
gas.

Last week, that changed. The Syrian military began combining
some of the binaries. “They didn’t do it on the whole arsenal, just a modest
quantity,” the official says. “We’re not sure what’s the intent.”......"